P3: Develop an original story to be told within the graphic novel or comic
Title:
The title of my comic book will be 'Matriarchy' as it reflects the basis of the story in a simple way without needing to read the comic to understand the title choice.
Synopsis and narrative structure:
'Matriarchy' is set in Britain in the year of 2125 with a prologue set in 2020. The narrative of the comic starts with a prologue to the main story which begins by portraying two leading protagonists, Leon and Albert. They are both cemetery workers and avid drinkers who are caught drinking on the job by their boss who gives them a task to install a cryogenic chamber, a new technology developed for the preservation of corpses, in the basement of the cemetery as well to prepare the chamber for a funeral which is to be held the following week for two deceased gentlemen which have contracted, and been killed by, the 'man-flu' which in recent times has mutated into a deadly and highly contagious disease. The two protagonists go ahead with the task however end up freezing themselves whilst trying to cool their alcoholic beverages in the previously mentioned cryogenic chamber.
By the time the funeral is set to be held the 'man-flu' wipes out society and life as we know it and the two protagonists wake up 105 years later in a matriarchal society ruled entirely by women. The two protagonists soon find out that all men have been extinct by the 'man-flu' and that they have found themselves to be last surviving male specimens. They find themselves being experimented on and closely observed by a man-hating group of women who take them to stand before a tribunal of highly regarded women in the society. The two protagonist show their clear intentions of re-establishing the old system in one way or another and therefore the court of fanatical women decide that the two protagonists must be naturalised and biologically converted into a woman or otherwise be exterminated.
Genre:
The genre of my comic will be Sci-Fi and Comedy. I have decided on these genres as Sci-Fi has always been a popular genre for comic book audiences and I chose comedy as I will be aiming the comic book to target an older audience who will be able to appreciate inside jokes and political undertones which I will feature throughout the comic book.
Target audience:
The target audience for my comic book will be male teenagers and young adults aged 16-19. As to the social grade I will be targeting the ABC1 demographic as my comic will aimed at the more educated and knowledgable of teenagers who will understand and appreciate political undertones and inside jokes. I will be targeting the comic book to a male audience as I don't believe the portrayal of female characters will be attractive to the mainstream female audience. The comic book is not targeting the politically correct spectrum of comic book readers as well as the far left political supporters.
Protagonists:
There are two protagonists in my comic book, Leon and Albert. Both work as cemetery workers in a graveyard and both are avid drinkers however their personalities differ. Leon is a 35 year old comical drunk and a lazy employee. He is a self proclaimed woman lover and at first find himself in heaven when he awakes in a female only society. Prior to the cryogenic accident at work he found work in various places but was usually fired due to his poor work ethic and his consumption of alcohol. He finally settled at the graveyard as his shifts there were few and far between and his boss a pushover. Albert, 29 years old, on the other hand is far more intelligent however he hit rockbottom after he lost his job as a lab assistant due to the company who employed him going bankrupt. He got a job at the graveyard to support his family as he was in need of money to support his family. His drinking habits began when he met Leon who became a negative influence and cause Albert to also drink excessively.
Publishing:
I have chosen to self-publish the comic as I desire complete freedom to include whatever content I want into the comic. I believe that publishing the comic with any other publisher would result in my freedom being compromised for exposure which I do not need as the comic book is not targeting the masses but instead a small group of individuals.
Legal and ethical issues:
This comic book series is going to be my work and there for I will not have to worry about infringing on someones copyright. However I will have to make sure that I copyright all my work in order to prevent others from using it without my knowledge and/or permission.
When it comes to representation there are more issues which come to mine. Firstly the men in my comic are represented in a fairly negative light with doesn't reflect well on the male gender. Additionally women aren't portrayed in the best of light either as they will be shown as radical and fanatical. However I don't think that representation will be a problem for my comic book series as my target audience excludes the types of people who would be offended by this but instead targets people who would understand that the comic book concept is just fiction and comedic sci-fi.
In my comic there will only be mild 'slap-stick' violence and bad language will be used sparingly if at all. On the other hand the use of alcohol and other mind altering substances, real or fictional, may be included throughout the comic however the target audience is mature and I will be self publishing therefore this is nothing I should worry about or censor as there will be no slander as it is a strictly fictional piece of work and the behaviour, language and violence used will not be used in a way that could incite panic or offence.
The title of my comic book will be 'Matriarchy' as it reflects the basis of the story in a simple way without needing to read the comic to understand the title choice.
Synopsis and narrative structure:
'Matriarchy' is set in Britain in the year of 2125 with a prologue set in 2020. The narrative of the comic starts with a prologue to the main story which begins by portraying two leading protagonists, Leon and Albert. They are both cemetery workers and avid drinkers who are caught drinking on the job by their boss who gives them a task to install a cryogenic chamber, a new technology developed for the preservation of corpses, in the basement of the cemetery as well to prepare the chamber for a funeral which is to be held the following week for two deceased gentlemen which have contracted, and been killed by, the 'man-flu' which in recent times has mutated into a deadly and highly contagious disease. The two protagonists go ahead with the task however end up freezing themselves whilst trying to cool their alcoholic beverages in the previously mentioned cryogenic chamber.
By the time the funeral is set to be held the 'man-flu' wipes out society and life as we know it and the two protagonists wake up 105 years later in a matriarchal society ruled entirely by women. The two protagonists soon find out that all men have been extinct by the 'man-flu' and that they have found themselves to be last surviving male specimens. They find themselves being experimented on and closely observed by a man-hating group of women who take them to stand before a tribunal of highly regarded women in the society. The two protagonist show their clear intentions of re-establishing the old system in one way or another and therefore the court of fanatical women decide that the two protagonists must be naturalised and biologically converted into a woman or otherwise be exterminated.
Genre:
The genre of my comic will be Sci-Fi and Comedy. I have decided on these genres as Sci-Fi has always been a popular genre for comic book audiences and I chose comedy as I will be aiming the comic book to target an older audience who will be able to appreciate inside jokes and political undertones which I will feature throughout the comic book.
Target audience:
The target audience for my comic book will be male teenagers and young adults aged 16-19. As to the social grade I will be targeting the ABC1 demographic as my comic will aimed at the more educated and knowledgable of teenagers who will understand and appreciate political undertones and inside jokes. I will be targeting the comic book to a male audience as I don't believe the portrayal of female characters will be attractive to the mainstream female audience. The comic book is not targeting the politically correct spectrum of comic book readers as well as the far left political supporters.
Protagonists:
There are two protagonists in my comic book, Leon and Albert. Both work as cemetery workers in a graveyard and both are avid drinkers however their personalities differ. Leon is a 35 year old comical drunk and a lazy employee. He is a self proclaimed woman lover and at first find himself in heaven when he awakes in a female only society. Prior to the cryogenic accident at work he found work in various places but was usually fired due to his poor work ethic and his consumption of alcohol. He finally settled at the graveyard as his shifts there were few and far between and his boss a pushover. Albert, 29 years old, on the other hand is far more intelligent however he hit rockbottom after he lost his job as a lab assistant due to the company who employed him going bankrupt. He got a job at the graveyard to support his family as he was in need of money to support his family. His drinking habits began when he met Leon who became a negative influence and cause Albert to also drink excessively.
Publishing:
I have chosen to self-publish the comic as I desire complete freedom to include whatever content I want into the comic. I believe that publishing the comic with any other publisher would result in my freedom being compromised for exposure which I do not need as the comic book is not targeting the masses but instead a small group of individuals.
Legal and ethical issues:
This comic book series is going to be my work and there for I will not have to worry about infringing on someones copyright. However I will have to make sure that I copyright all my work in order to prevent others from using it without my knowledge and/or permission.
When it comes to representation there are more issues which come to mine. Firstly the men in my comic are represented in a fairly negative light with doesn't reflect well on the male gender. Additionally women aren't portrayed in the best of light either as they will be shown as radical and fanatical. However I don't think that representation will be a problem for my comic book series as my target audience excludes the types of people who would be offended by this but instead targets people who would understand that the comic book concept is just fiction and comedic sci-fi.
In my comic there will only be mild 'slap-stick' violence and bad language will be used sparingly if at all. On the other hand the use of alcohol and other mind altering substances, real or fictional, may be included throughout the comic however the target audience is mature and I will be self publishing therefore this is nothing I should worry about or censor as there will be no slander as it is a strictly fictional piece of work and the behaviour, language and violence used will not be used in a way that could incite panic or offence.
P4
Below is the script for my comic. I decided to write far more than what I will be able to draw in order to give myself a good grounding for the storyline and the feel and themes that I want to carry throughout the comic.
P5
Below are the page layouts I have planned for all the pages.
The first page consists of 6 panels and it's first two panels are symmetrical in size and placement. This is because my story consists of two main characters and I want to establish them equally at the very beginning of the comic to put across both of their importance to the story. I then chose to add one large and wide panel at the bottom of the page as it will include an extra character and a conversation between the three. I made this choice because I wanted to add a lot of imagery as the text in this panel will have a lot of information for the reader so I'd like to have an equal part of visual story telling to make up for the text in the comic to make is engaging for the reader.
Another interesting page is the last page which consists of only one panel. This is because that is the scene where the story really unfolds but my creation of it thus far ends. I wanted it to be a significant and claustrophobic scene of an uncomfortable close up and in order to add all the visual detail and storytelling I need a panel this size to put that across. The choice to put just one panel on the page stemmed from the idea of making it more significant and enticing to the reader as they'd hopefully want to carry on after being left on such a major and large cliff hanger which is presented on a major and large panel on one page.
When looking at page four you will see my panelling for the scene of the two protagonists driving a funeral hearse. On top I have featured one large and wide panel which will be good as it will feature an establishing shot for which a wider panel is effective. This shot will show the two protagonists sitting in the front of the van speaking so the wide size of the panel will allow to various speech bubbles. Right under this there are two more panels adjacent to each other which will show two seemingly the same shots with the only thing different is the direction in which the car is swerving. One will feature the car swerving on the road to the left and the other to the right, these identical panels will allow me to copy the scene completely and only change the car which will be effective as it will allow for a more dramatic visualisation of the protagonist's reckless driving. Under those two panel are two more identical panels which will feature the protagonists unloading a chamber outside a church and the next of them bringing it in. I chose this layout as it is easy to follow and will allow the reader to not get confused with the order of the story.
Another interesting choice I made was for the panelling on page 5 which features two large panels of the same size on one page. These will be effective as the scene will feature a comedic scene which will include first two women dressed in black holding fire extinguishers and the second being the two protagonists covered in foam without warning. I only featured two panels to make that exchange more fast paced for the reader and more comedic as if it was a jump cut to situational comedy in a film. Further more the two panels are identical as it allows for the same amount of dialogue between the two panels as both feature two different characters so their presence will be well outlined with the same sized panel.
Another interesting page is the last page which consists of only one panel. This is because that is the scene where the story really unfolds but my creation of it thus far ends. I wanted it to be a significant and claustrophobic scene of an uncomfortable close up and in order to add all the visual detail and storytelling I need a panel this size to put that across. The choice to put just one panel on the page stemmed from the idea of making it more significant and enticing to the reader as they'd hopefully want to carry on after being left on such a major and large cliff hanger which is presented on a major and large panel on one page.
When looking at page four you will see my panelling for the scene of the two protagonists driving a funeral hearse. On top I have featured one large and wide panel which will be good as it will feature an establishing shot for which a wider panel is effective. This shot will show the two protagonists sitting in the front of the van speaking so the wide size of the panel will allow to various speech bubbles. Right under this there are two more panels adjacent to each other which will show two seemingly the same shots with the only thing different is the direction in which the car is swerving. One will feature the car swerving on the road to the left and the other to the right, these identical panels will allow me to copy the scene completely and only change the car which will be effective as it will allow for a more dramatic visualisation of the protagonist's reckless driving. Under those two panel are two more identical panels which will feature the protagonists unloading a chamber outside a church and the next of them bringing it in. I chose this layout as it is easy to follow and will allow the reader to not get confused with the order of the story.
Another interesting choice I made was for the panelling on page 5 which features two large panels of the same size on one page. These will be effective as the scene will feature a comedic scene which will include first two women dressed in black holding fire extinguishers and the second being the two protagonists covered in foam without warning. I only featured two panels to make that exchange more fast paced for the reader and more comedic as if it was a jump cut to situational comedy in a film. Further more the two panels are identical as it allows for the same amount of dialogue between the two panels as both feature two different characters so their presence will be well outlined with the same sized panel.
Storyboard
Below I have attached my storyboard